15

SECTION D: Species interaction

SPECIES INTERACTION
A. The Environment: Physical environment; biotic environment; biotic and abiotic interactions.
B. Habitat and Niche: Concept of habitat and niche; niche width and overlap; fundamental and realized niche;
resource partitioning; character displacement.
C. Population Ecology: Characteristics of a population; population growth curves; population regulation; life
history strategies (r and K selection); concept of metapopulation – demes and dispersal, interdemic
extinctions, age structured populations.
D. Species Interactions: Types of interactions, interspecific competition, herbivory, carnivory, pollination,
symbiosis.
E. Community Ecology: Nature of communities; community structure and attributes; levels of species
diversity and its measurement; edges and ecotones.
F. Ecological Succession: Types; mechanisms; changes involved in succession; concept of climax.
G. Ecosystem Ecology: Ecosystem structure; ecosystem function; energy flow and mineral cycling (C,N,P);
primary production and decomposition; structure and function of some Indian ecosystems: terrestrial (forest,
grassland) and aquatic (fresh water, marine, eustarine).
H. Biogeography: Major terrestrial biomes; theory of island biogeography; biogeographical zones of India.
I. Applied Ecology: Environmental pollution; global environmental change; biodiversity: status, monitoring
and documentation; major drivers of biodiversity change; biodiversity management approaches.
J. Conservation Biology: Principles of conservation, major approaches to management, Indian case studies
on conservation/management strategy (Project Tiger, Biosphere reserves).

COVERED IN UNIT-9 (Diversity of life forms-By Manisha ma’am)

 Community

• The group of species (population)that occupy a given area, interacting either directly or
indirectly, is called a community. This definition embraces the concept of community in its
broadest sense.
• Ecologists define communities as groups of interacting species that occur together at the
same place and time.
• Interactions among multiple species and their physical environment give communities their
character and function.
• These attributes include
1. the number of species,
2. their relative abundances,
3. the nature of their interactions, and
4. their physical structure (defined primarily by the growth forms of the plant components of the
community).
 Guild and its Example

➢ An ecological guild is a group of species that exploit the same resources or exploit
different resources in similar ways. These species do not necessarily occupy the same
ecological niche but share functional similarities in how they interact with their environment.
➢ The concept of guilds was first introduced by the ecologist Richard Root of Cornell University
to describe groups of functionally similar species in a community.
➢ For example, hummingbirds and other nectar-feeding birds form a guild of species that
exploits the common resource of flowering plants in a similar fashion. Likewise, seed-
eating birds could be grouped into another feeding guild within the broader community.
➢ Because species within a guild draw on a shared resource, there is potential for strong
interactions, particularly interspecific competition, between the members.
➢ Guild is a group of organisms that all make their living in a similar way. Examples of guilds
include the seed-eating animals in an area of desert, the fruit-eating birds in a tropical
rain forest, and the filter-feeding invertebrates in a stream. Some guilds consist of
closely related species, whereas others are taxonomically heterogeneous. For instance,
the fruit-eating birds on many South Pacific islands consist mainly of pigeons, whereas
the seed-eating guild in the Sonoran Desert includes mammals, birds, and ants.
 Species Interaction

• If we designate the positive effect of one species on another as +, a detrimental effect as −, and no
effect as 0, we can use this qualitative description of the different ways in which populations of two
species interact to develop a classification of possible interactions between two co-occurring species.

Community interaction

Positive interaction Negative interaction Neutral interaction

Mutualism Commensalism Parasitism Predation Competition Amensalism

Obligate facultative
Intraspecific Interspecific
Example- Proto-
cooperation
 ECOLOGICAL INTERACTION

INTERACTION SPECIES A SPECIES B RESULT

Neutralism 0 0 NO AFFECT
Competition _ _ A and B compete for same resources and have
negative affect of each other
Parasitism + _ Parasite get benefits and host face loss.
Mutualism + + A and B require each other for survival.
Commensalism + 0 A require B for survival, But B not affected.
Amensalism 0 _ A remain unaffected and B is negatively affected
Predation + _ Predator get benefits and prey face loss.
Protocoorporation + + Both gets benefits
Spite - - Direct and indirect harm to both
Cannibalism - + B get benefit by harming A
 Mutualism
➢ In mutualism, two species behave in ways that benefit both by providing each with food, shelter, or
some other resource. Such interactions can affect an ecosystem by helping to sustain the populations
of the participating species and by providing favorable habitats for certain organisms and influencing
their distribution.
➢ Mutualistic relationships that combine nutrition and protection-One involves birds that ride on the backs
of large animals like African buffalo, elephants, and rhinoceroses (Figure 5-6a). The birds remove and
eat parasites and pests (such as ticks and flies) from the animal’s body and often make noises
warning the larger animals when predators approach.
➢ A second example involves the clownfish species (Figure 5-6b). Clownfish usually live in a group within sea
anemones, whose tentacles sting and paralyze most fish that touch them. The clownfish, which are not
harmed by the tentacles, gain protection from predators and feed on the detritus left from the
anemones’ meals. The sea anemones benefit because the clownfish protect them from some of their
predators and parasites.
 Mutualism: Example
• In gut inhabitant mutualism, vast armies of bacteria in the digestive systems of animals break down
(digest) their food. The bacteria receive a sheltered habitat and food from their host. In turn, they
help to digest their host’s food. Hundreds of millions of bacteria in your gut secrete enzymes that help
you digest the food you eat.
• Cows and termites are able to digest cellulose in the plant tissues they eat because of the large
number of microorganisms, mostly certain types of bacteria, that live in their guts.
• Nitrogen fixation: Bacteria –get nutrient from host plant & Plant-plant get fixed nitrogen for use.
• A mycorrhiza is a symbiotic association between a fungus and a plant. Fungal hyphae mobilized the
mineral for plants. Mycelium's higher absorptive capacity for water and mineral nutrients. Fungus get
food from plants.
• It is tempting to think of mutualism as an example of cooperation between species. In reality, each species
benefits by unintentionally exploiting the other as a result of traits they obtained through natural selection.
• Both species in a mutualistic pair are in it for themselves.
➢ In some cases, the species involved in a positive interaction form a symbiosis, a relationship in which individuals
of the two species live in close physical and/ or physiological contact with each other. Symbiosis is defined
as a close, prolonged association(long-term) between two or more different biological
species.Examples include the relationships between pea aphids and their bacterial symbionts and
between humans and bacteria (we have a diverse set of bacteria living in our guts, many of which are
beneficial).
• Symbiotic relationships can range from parasitism(+/-) to commensalism (+/0) to mutualism(+/+).
 Mutualism: Example

• In exchange for food and

shelter, ants protect acacias
from attack by herbivores and
competition from other plants
Mutualism: Example

Ants have removed the plants that

grew near this acacia, creating a
competitor free zone for the plant.
 Mutualism: Type

• Mutualism can vary in the degree of dependency between

mutualists & can be of type-
1. Obligate mutualism: Compulsory interaction, neither species
can live without the other. Obligate mutualists cannot survive or
reproduce without the mutualistic interaction. Example→ lichens
are an inseparable mix of fungi and algae
2. Facultative mutualism (protocooperation): Interaction is
beneficial but not essential to the survival and
reproduction of either species(can live separately). For
example, many ant species exist in mutualistic relationships with
aphids, which provide them with a nutritious fluid called
honeydew, but the ants can exist without them.

Aphids are fairly defenseless creatures and easy prey for most
predators. The aphids feed on plant sap and have to process a
significant amount of this dilute food medium to get their required nutrients.
Like most organisms, the aphid’s digestive tract is not 100% efficient, and
some of the sugars still remain in the excreted fluid, which is called
honeydew. The ants drink the honeydew and, in return, protect the
aphids from an array of predators by driving the aphid’s predators away
Example- ants & aphids
 Mutualism: Type

• Mutualisms can also be subdivided according to the services provided, regardless of whether
the participants are obligate or facultative mutualists.-
1. Dispersive mutualism: mutualistic association in which one partner species distributing
pollens or seeds of another species and in return receive resource for
growth.Example- includes plants and the pollinators that disperse their pollen, and plants and
the fruit eaters that disperse the plant’s seeds.
2. Defensive mutualism: mutualistic association in which one partner provide protection to
other partner against herbivores or parasites in exchange for a place to live or for
nutrient needed for growth. Example- ants & aphids
3. Resource based mutualism: it involves interactions where resource (such as nutrients)
obtained by one mutualistic is made available to another. Resource-based mutualism
involves species that can better obtain resources together than alone. Example: mycorrhiza
Defensive mutualism
Mutualism: Defensive Type(case study)

Defensive mutualism

Soay sheep, Ovis aries, are less well able to

digest grasses where these are defended by
mutualistic fungi which live inside the leaves
Resource based mutualism example:
 Commensalism

➢ When one species maintains or provides a

condition that is necessary for the welfare of
another but does not affect its own well-being,
the relationship (+0) is called commensalism.
➢ The possible benefits to commensalism include
increased access to food, protection from
enemies, or increased dispersal ability.
➢ For example, the trunk or limb of a tree provides
the substrate on which an epiphytic orchid
grows. The arrangement benefits the orchid,
which gets nutrients from the air and
moisture from aerial roots, whereas the tree is
unaffected.
 Commensalism
➢ For example, One example involves plants called epiphytes
(such as certain types of orchids and bromeliads), which
attach themselves to the trunks or branches of large trees in
tropical and subtropical forests, These air plants benefit by
having a solid base on which to grow. They also live in an
elevated spot that gives them better access to sunlight,
water from the humid air and rain, and nutrients falling from
the tree’s upper leaves and limbs. Their presence apparently
does not harm the tree.
➢ Similarly, birds benefit by nesting in trees, generally without
harming them
 Commensalism

• For example: Cattle egrets

feed in pastures and fields
among cattle, whose
movements stir up insect prey
for the birds. This creates more
food for the cattle egret in
fewer steps. The egrets
benefit from the
association, but the cattle
are unaffected.
 Commensalism Type

• Ecologists have adopted additional terms to describe different types of commensalism.

1. Inquilinism occurs when one species uses a second species for housing or shelter.
For example, orchids grow in forks of tropical trees. Such plants are known as epiphytes,
plants which use other plants for support but gain water and nutrients from moist air or
from runoff. The tree is unaffected, but the orchid gains support and increased exposure to
sunlight and rain.
2. Phoresy occurs when one organism uses a second organism for transportation. For
example- most hikers and dogs have at some time gathered spiny or sticky seeds as
they wandered through woods or fields.
3. In metabiosis, an organism uses something produced by the first, usually after its
death. For example, hermit crabs use snail shells for protection. Commensalism is
very common in nature.
 Commensalism example

Example- In some forms of seed dispersal,seeds are transported to new germination sites in the fur
of mammals. The seeds benefit, but the mammals are generally unaffected.

✓Zebra and
egret ✓Shark and remora fish ✓Trees and epiphytes
✓Zebra –Stir up ✓Shark provide Food scraps, transport and ✓Trees give habitat to other
insect food and hence remora get benefits plants
Egret get
benefits
 Predation

• Predation is the process of one organism feeding on another, typically killing the prey.
Predation always has a negative effect on the individual prey.
• In predation, a member of one species (the predator) feeds directly on all or part of a
living organism of another plant or animal species (the prey) as part of a food web.
• Together, the two different species such as lions (the predator, or hunter) and zebras (the prey,
or hunted) form a predator–prey relationship.
• In giant kelp forest ecosystems, sea urchins prey on kelp, a form of seaweed.However, as
keystone species, southern sea otters prey on the sea urchins and thus keep them from
destroying the kelp forests
• NOTE: Details covered in Prey-predator model chapter.
Praying mantises

White ermines
 Parasitism

➢ In parasitism, one organism feeds on the other but rarely kills it outright. The parasite and host live
together for some time. The host typically survives, although its fitness is reduced.
➢ Parasitism occurs when one species (the parasite) feeds on the body of, or the energy used by,
another organism (the host), usually by living on or in the host. In this relationship, the parasite
benefits and the host is harmed but not immediately killed.
➢ A parasite usually is much smaller than its host and rarely kills its host. Also, most parasites
remain closely associated with their hosts, draw nourishment from them, and may gradually weaken
them over time.
➢ Some parasites such as tapeworms and some disease- causing microorganisms (pathogens) live
inside their hosts. Other parasites attach themselves to the outsides of their hosts. Examples of the
latter include mosquitoes, mistletoe plants (Figure 5-5, b), and sea lampreys that use their sucker-like
mouths to attach themselves to fish and feed on their blood(Figure 5-5, a)
➢ Some parasites move from one host to another, as fleas and ticks do; others such as tapeworms
spend their adult lives with a single host.
➢ From the host’s point of view, parasites are harmful. But at the population level, parasites can
promote biodiversity by increasing species richness, and they help to keep the populations of
their hosts in check.
➢ When one organism feeds on another, but does not normally kill it outright, the organism is termed a
parasite and the prey is called a host. Some parasites remain attached to their hosts for most of their lives.
For example, tapeworms spend their entire adult life inside the host’s alimentary canal. Some, such as ticks
and leeches, drop off their hosts
 Parasitism
• Parasites vary in size from relatively large species (macroparasites), such as arthropods and
worms, to species too small to be seen with the naked eye (microparasites), such as bacteria,
protists, and unicellular fungi.
• But whether they are large or small, parasites typically feed on only one or a few host individuals over the
course of their lives.
• Thus, defined broadly, parasites include herbivores, such as aphids or nematodes, that feed on only
one or a few host plants, as well as parasitoids, insects whose larvae feed on a single host, almost
always killing it.
Parasitism
 Parasitoidism

• Parasitoidism, like predation, kills the host eventually. Parasitoids, which include certain
wasps and flies, lay eggs in or on the body of the host. When the eggs hatch, the
larvae feed on it. By the time the larvae reach the pupal stage, the host has succumbed.
 Herbivores
➢ Involves the predation of plants or algae.
➢ Many different vertebrate species such as
deer, goats, sheep, cows, horses, antelopes,
rhinoceros, elephants, and humans feed on
plants.
➢ In addition, there are over 360,000 species
of herbivorous insects, primarily beetles,
butterflies and moths, flies, sucking bugs,
and grasshoppers.
➢ Beetles, grasshoppers, and lepidopteran
caterpillars often chew plant leaves, and
many hemiptera, the sucking bugs, pierce
the plant’s vascular system and tap into the
phloem or, less commonly, the xylem
➢ Herbivory can be lethal to plants, especially
for small species.
 Herbivores
Koalas ➢ Monophagous herbivores, which are usually insects, feed on one
plant species or just a few closely related species

➢ Polyphagous species, which are mainly mammals, feed on many

different host species, often from more than one family.

➢ EXAMPLE-There are, however, exceptions. Pandas are monophagous

because they feed only on bamboo, and koalas specialize on
eucalyptus trees. On the other hand, grasshoppers are polyphagous
because they feed on a wide variety of plant species, including
important crops.
 Amensalism

❑ Smoother crops, such as barley, sorghum, and sunflower, prevent weeds from growing nearby.
Smoother crop is unaffected in this case, but weeds suffer.
❑ When cattle trample on grass, the grass is crushed. However, the cattle do not benefit from this
action nor is harmed in the process.
❑ Elephants stepping on ants kill the ants rather than benefiting the elephants.
❑ Allelopathy is also a form of amensalism that occurs in plants. Allelopathy is a form of
amensalism, an association between organisms in which one is inhibited or destroyed and the
other is unaffected through the release into the environment of secondary metabolites called
allelochemicals. Black walnut tree: has chemicals in its roots, nut hulls, and buds. Maple tree:
chemicals are excreted from all parts of the tree. Pine tree: chemicals are excreted from the pine
needles Reference: researchgate.net

❑ Tagetes i.e. marigold secretes all chemicals toxic to soil nematodes and fungi.
 Amensalism

➢ Amensalism is a type of biological interaction where one species causes harm to another organism without
any cost or benefits to itself.
➢ One species reduces or adversely affects the population of another, but the affected species has no influence
in return. This relationship is amensalism. It is considered by many ecologists as a form of asymmetric
competition, such as when taller plant species shade species of smaller stature.
➢ There are two basic modes:
1. Competition , in which a larger or stronger organism excludes a smaller or weaker one from living space or
deprives it of food.
Example: The goat is unharmed when it consumes the shrub, however, the beetle loses
significant quantities of food and may accidentally be eaten by the goat

2. Antibiosis, in which one organism is unaffected but the other is damaged or killed by a chemical secretion.
Example: destructive effect that the bread mold Penicillium has upon certain bacteria; the
secretion, known as penicillin.

Reference: https://www.britannica.com
 Species Interactions Can Be Diffuse

➢ Most interactions are not exclusive involving only two species but rather involve a number of
species that form diffuse associations.
➢ For example, most terrestrial communities are inhabited by an array of insect, small
mammal, reptile, and bird species that feed on seeds. As a result, there is a potential for
competition to occur among any number of species that draw on this limited food resource.
➢ In diffuse coevolution, also called guild coevolution, whole groups of species interact with
other groups of species, leading to changes that cannot really be identified as examples of
specific, pairwise coevolution between two species. In diffuse coevolution, groups of species
interact with other groups of species, leading to natural selection and evolutionary changes
that cannot be identified as examples of specific, pairwise coevolution between two species
Networks composed of distinct, densely
connected subsystems are called
modular.
Case study
 Pollination syndromes

Pollination is the act of transferring pollen grains from the male

anther of a flower to the female stigma. The goal of every living
organism, including plants, is to create offspring for the next
generation. One of the ways that plants can produce offspring is by
making seeds.
Wind, water, birds, insects, butterflies, bats, and other animals that
visit flowers are examples of vectors. Pollinators can be either
animals or insects that transfer pollen from one plant to another
Educator Name: JYOTI KUMARI (CSIR UGC NET-Life science)

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ADDITIONAL PORTION
Resource based mutualism example-(Extra )
• Many mutualisms are based on the fact that both partners can improve the supply of essential resources. About 90% of
seed plants have mutualistic associations with fungi that live on or in the root tissue. These associations are called
mycorrhizae.
• The fungi require soluble carbohydrates from their host as a carbon source and they supply mineral resources and water,
which they are able to extract more efficiently from the soil than the host. Most plant species are susceptible to
colonization by mycorrhizal fungi, though some, like tropical species, rely heavily upon them. In tropical systems the soil is
nutrient-poor, nutrients having been washed away by heavy rains. Nutrients are locked up in living or recently dead and
decaying organisms. Mycorrhizae are efficient at rapidly extracting remaining nutrients from decaying material.
• Leaf-cutting ants of the tribe Attini, of which there are about 210 species, enter into a resource-based mutualistic
relationship with a fungus. The ants chew the leaves into a pulp, which they store underground as a substrate on which the
fungus grows. The ants shelter and tend the fungus, protecting it from competing fungi and helping it reproduce and grow.
In turn, the fungus produces specialized structures known as gongylidia, which serve as food for the ants. In this way, the
ants circumvent the chemical defenses of the leaves, which are digested by the fungus, and the fungi exists as a healthy
colony underground.
• Photosynthetic algae live in coral reef tissue .the coral reef provide the algae with a protected environment and the
compounds they need for photosynthesis, in return the algae produce oxygen & help the coral to remove wastes.
PREVENTION FROM HERBIVORY
Strategies of plants to avoid being eaten
Strategies of herbivores to overcome plant defenses
 Guild and its Example

➢ The grouping of species into trophic levels is a functional classification; it defines groups of
species that derive their energy/resource (food) in a similar manner. Another approach
is to subdivide each trophic level into groups of species that exploit a common resource in a
similar fashion; these groups are termed guilds.
Extra:
• Palatable plants can gain protection
against herbivores through an association
with unplatable neighbors, a
phenomenon known as associational
resistance
CSIR NET 2012-DEC

Identify the pollinators for the flowers with following pollination syndromes
A. Flowers dull colored, located away from foliage, floral parts turgid,
B. Flowers bright red, crowded, turgid, nectar watery and sucrose rich.
C. Flowers white with pleasant odor, corolla tube long, night blooming.
(1) (A) Bird: (B) Bat; (C) Butterfly
(2) (A) Bat: (C) Bird: (C) Moth
(3) (A) Bat; (B) Bird; (C) Bee
(4) (A) Bird; (B) Bat; (C) Carrion fly
CSIR NET 2013-JUNE
CSIR NET 2013-DEC The following matrix shows the relationship between probability of death and duration of
species association.

In the above, A, B, C and D are:

1. A - Parasites, B = Parasitoids, C - Grazers, D - Predators
2. A - Carnivores, B = Herbivores, C- Parasites, D - Parasitoids
3. A - Grazers, B = Parasites, C - Herbivores, D - Parasitoids
4. A - Predators, B = Parasitoids, C - Parasites, D - Carnivores
CSIR NET-2015-DEC

A red coloured tubular flower without any odour is most likely to be pollinated by
1. beetles.
2. bees.
3. butterflies.
4. birds
CSIR NET-JUNE-2020
CSIR NET-2015-JUNE
Given below is a matrix of possible interactions beneficial. (+), harmful (-), Neutral (0) between
species 1 and 2. The names of interactions, A, B, C and D, respectively; are

1. Predation, competition, mutualism, commensalism

2. Mutualism, competition, amensalism, commensalism
3. Competition, predation, mutualism, amensalism
4. Competition, mutualism, commensalism, predation
ANS-3
CSIR NET-2014-DEC
CSIR NET 2013-JUNE
CSIR NET-2019-DEC

An interaction where the actor and the recipient both suffer a cost is referred to as
1. Altruism
2. Cooperation
3. Mutualism
4. Spite
CSIR-SEP 2022-S2
CSIR NET –JUNE 2023 (S1)
CSIR NET SEP-2022
CSIR NET SEP-2022
CSIR NET-Sep 2022 (s2)
CSIR DEC 2024
A parasitoid infects a host to complete its life cycle. Which of the following life-history traits typically characterizes this
parasitoid, assuming that only one parasitoid infects one host?
1. Intrinsic rate of population growth faster than hosts; Eventually fatal for the host
2. Intrinsic rate of population growth slower than hosts; Immediately fatal for the host
3. Intrinsic rate of population growth comparable to hosts; Eventually fatal for the host
4. Intrinsic rate of population growth faster than hosts; Immediately fatal for the host
LOTKA VOLTERRA MODEL
CSIR NET-JUNE-2020
CSIR NET-2016-JUNE
For two species A and B in competition, the carrying capacities and competition coefficients are
KA = 150 KB = 200
α= 1 β = 1.3

According to the Lotka-Volterra model of interspecific competition, the outcome of competition will be
(1)Species A wins.
(2)Species B wins.
(3)Both species reach a stable equilibrium.
(4)Both species reach an unstable equilibrium
CSIR NET 2014-DEC
The diagram represents competition between species 1 and
species 2 according to Lotka Volterra model of competition.
CSIR NET 2012-JUNE
CSIR NET-2017-JUNE
Two species, M and N, occupy the same habitat. Given below is a 'state-space' graph in which the abundance of
species M is plotted on the X-axis and abundance of species· N is plotted on the Y-axis. For each species, the
zero-growth isocline is plotted

KM = carrying capacity of the habitat for species M -in absence of

species N
KN = carrying capacity of the habitat for species N in absence of
species M
α = per capita effect of species N on M β = per capita
effect of species M on N

Based on the above plot some deductions are made. Which one of
the following statements is INCORRECT?
(1)At point A, populations of both the species M and N increase
(2)At point B, population of species M increase while that of
zero-growth isocline for species M
species N decreases
_ _ zero-growth isocline for species N
(3)At point B, population of species N increase while that of
species M decreases
(4)Ultimately species N will be eliminated
Educator Name: JYOTI KUMARI (CSIR UGC NET-Life science)

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